An Eternal Gift
by Subtlynice
Summary: Alice finds a way around Bella’s “no presents” 18th birthday rule. She sees herself and Edward giving Bella her birthday CD, and enlists Edward’s help to make it. An Edward and Alice friendship fic set post-Twilight, pre-New Moon.


A/N: I wrote this fanfic to document the friendship between Edward, Alice and Bella. All three are my absolute favourite characters in the Twilight Saga.

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An Eternal Gift

It was the end of another long day for my angel, and I had to say, although she looked as stunning as ever as she tripped through the doorway and collapsed into my ready arms, she also looked dead on her feet.

"Are you tired?" I asked, steadying her as she blinked dazedly up at me.

"Yep," she murmured, before grinning slightly and adding "are you?"

'No, I'm not tired.' I replied, smiling involuntarily.

Bella sighed sleepily. "You should be." She declared. "You've been awake for a century."

I grinned down at her. I loved it when she did crazy things like this.

"Bedtime for the human." I reminded her sternly. "You're going to need to be wide awake tomorrow. Alice doesn't remember her own time as a human, so she's planning a wide range of human-related activities for you to enjoy over the summer."

She groaned and hugged me closer, setting my long-assaulted throat aflame. "No!" she whined. "Can't we just… spend a few days doing absolutely nothing?"

I ignored my thirst and chuckled at the tortured look she gave me as she said this. She had every right to this look though; Alice had been overwhelmingly friendly and boisterous lately, both fascinated with and amused by Bella's human nature.

But then, I couldn't judge Alice on that front, either. She was only making the most out of the time she had with Bella. The second vision, Bella's broken body in my arms, was still just as clear.

I didn't want to think of that. I _couldn't_ think of that.

I lead her to the bed, carefully placing her delicate body under the sheets and settling myself above them. She frowned at my pathetic attempts to distance her from my unnatural chill and immediately made her very best effort to dispel that distance, wrapping her arms around me and leaning towards me to use my cold, hard chest as a pillow. I laughed sardonically at her obviously warped logic; hating myself for loving the way she always acted as though I were human.

Too tired to speak, she simply sighed. I felt her soft exhale and tasted venom flowing freely into my mouth again. A reminder to myself that I most definitely was not human, no matter how much I wanted to be.

Humming Bella's lullaby softly, I felt her gently succumb to sleep; heard her heartbeat slow to a steadier rhythm than it normally was in my presence. I smiled and stroked her hair back gently as she huddled up into a ball, moving her arms to clutch at her duvet cover. She was adorable when she slept. Content with simply watching her, I shuffled away from her slightly, gently lifting her head and placing it on her much safer and more comfortable pillow.

Suddenly, my mobile rang. _Loudly_. Bella stirred in her sleep and mumbled something about turnips. A few walls away, Charlie's burbling thoughts became slightly more coherent. Cursing, I leapt to my feet, jumped from Bella's window and made my way into the forest before stopping to check the number of whoever was calling me. I recognised it immediately and flipped my phone open angrily.

"What do you want, Alice?" I growled into the mobile. Alice gave a small giggle on the other end of the line. Clearly, she had predicted my reaction before she had even rung.

"You need to come back home right away Edward!" She sang, her voice giving away just how excited she was. I didn't need to be in the same room as her to know that she was probably dancing around on the balls of her feet as she spoke.

"Why? What is it?" I sighed moodily, starting to make my way back to our house.

"I've had the most amazing idea for Bella's birthday present!" She declared. "And don't you try to argue with me Edward Cullen! I can see that you're going to- it won't work!"

I sighed. I'd been told a thousand times by Bella not to buy her anything for her birthday. Alice, however, was determined to make a fuss- and no one could rein Alice in when she got like this.

"Alice, Bella told me specifically not to give her anything."

"No she didn't Edward!" Alice squealed happily. "Her exact words were 'Don't buy me anything!'"

I frowned and slowed down to a walk. "Alice, you're not making any sense."

Alice giggled over the phone. "Don't worry Edward; you'll see when you get here. She'll love it, I can tell."

With that, I heard the line go dead and snapped my own phone shut in annoyance. Running at full speed I reached the house a few minutes later. Alice was waiting for me outside and when I reached her she tugged impatiently at my hand, dragging me inside.

"You're not allowed to buy her anything, so we'll make her something instead!" Alice chirped, bringing me to my piano and forcing me onto the stool. She then took out a small silver device and pressed a button on the top of it.

"What is this?" I asked, bewildered. And then I heard Alice's squealing thoughts. "you want me to… record my compositions?"

_She'll love it, Edward. A compilation of her favourite pieces. I thought we could start with her lullaby, then perhaps Esme's- that was the first piece she ever heard… _Alice's thoughts trailed off satisfactorily.

"It's not a bad idea," I admitted, pleased to have found a way around Bella's request. I wished she'd just understand how I felt about gifts. She was my world, my goddess. I wanted to worship her. If only she would let me.

_Go on, get playing!_ Alice encouraged.

Eager to get back to Bella immediately, I did as she said, and gently pressed my fingers against the keys. Picturing her beautiful, sleepy face it was easy to set a steady rhythm and Bella's Lullaby flowed naturally through the instrument in perfect harmony to my thoughts.

As the lullaby faded out to its heartbreaking close, I immediately turned my thoughts to Esme and Carlisle, and the beautiful love they shared. But the majority of my thoughts were still on Bella as I began Esme's song. I smiled slightly when I heard the faint, but entrancing difference Bella made to each of my pieces as I recorded them. I wondered if the difference would even register to her human ears. I hoped so. She deserved to hear how she had perfected every last detail of my life.

As the last tune trailed swiftly away, I pictured her face once more. So trusting, so deserving, so alive… and I would change that. One way or another, I would drain her life of all its potential. Whether that meant sucking her body dry of its rich life source, or selfishly taking her soul, just so I could keep her with me for all eternity, or even staying with her until she perished of natural causes, her life a mere half of what it could have been without me holding her back, keeping her in the shadows.

I would destroy her, one way or another. This was my final thought as the notes faded away.

Alice rested her hand on my shoulder, bringing me back to the present.

_That was beautiful. She'll love it._

"Will she?" I asked forlornly. "I'm not sure, Alice. She doesn't see gifts the way any sane human would."

Alice smiled and looked ahead. Bella's joy with her present was obvious as she smiled, looking up at both Alice and I.

_She's not materialistic, that's all. She doesn't like a fuss. There's only one thing in this world she really wants…_ Alice's thoughts trailed back to her vision of Bella as a strong, beautiful newborn, her arm around Alice, smiling in comradeship. I winced.

"I just want her to be happy, Alice." I whispered desolately.

Alice's face creased.

"But so do I," she said. "I just… I can't see what… it's too hard to…"

She couldn't voice her words, but I caught them in her mind. My future with Bella wasn't clear. She wanted us to make the most out of every second.

"I know." I told her. Her head bowed in misery.

_I love her too, you know._

"Yes. I know that too. And so does she."

_And she loves us. She's happy with us here. I used to think your plan for her future was ridiculous. I didn't see how it could ever work. I still don't see it working. But… I can understand it now. So many of us- you and Rosalie especially –haven't taken well to our lifestyle. I don't want her to suffer any more than you do._

"Anyway," she continued in a strained voice, "you should get back to her. I just have to burn this onto a CD. It won't take long."

"Thank you, Alice." I said. I had a feeling that Bella wouldn't enjoy her birthday as much as we wanted her to, and I supposed Alice would be hurt if no one thanked her for the effort. And I could see it in her thoughts- she really did love Bella. She wanted her to become one of us, but only with the best intentions. She truly believed we would be happy together for eternity.

And I believed it too. I knew I would be more than happy to spend eternity with Bella. It was what came after our eternity that worried me. If I was already damned, I would keep Bella away from the fires of hell if it was the last thing I did.

Yes, we loved her. But it wasn't enough. It could never be enough. She deserved so much more than us. More than we could ever give her.

Her birthday gift was simple: a CD, a compilation of songs. But Alice and I had another gift for her; an eternal gift.

We loved her. No matter how long Bella's life would last, I knew that this gift would last forever.

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A/N: This will probably be the last of my regular stream of fanfics, because I'm back at school now, so it's going to be a lot harder for me to continue writing. I also want to focus on my own stories, which are really coming along thanks to all this practice writing.

The sequel to "Paper Carnations", entitled "Cotton Lilies" will be going ahead, but don't expect it to happen quickly.


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